Study finds 100,000 premature deaths in 8 Indian cities

Air pollution caused more than 100,000 premature deaths in some of India’s biggest cities between 2005 and 2018, according to a new study.

Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune recorded the highest number of such deaths – 93.9, 96.4, 82.1 and 73.6 per 100,000 people, respectively, during this period, according to the published analysis in Scientists progress April 8 noted.

Mumbai, Surat, Chennai and Ahmedabad recorded 65.5, 58.4, 48 and 47.7 premature deaths per 100,000 population respectively, according to the report.

Source: Study

The study, however, did not cover Delhi, Noida and Faridabad, which were on the World Health Organization’s list of the world’s 20 most polluted cities.

“We wanted to assess fast-growing cities in the tropics, which are projected morph into megacities by 2100, and eight of those cities are in India,” said Karn Vohra, lead author and researcher at University College London. Down to earth.

The team wanted to quantify long-term changes in air quality in cities that lack extensive surface monitoring networks, he added.

Vohra and his colleagues relied on instruments aboard the United States’s National Administration of Space and Aeronautics (NASA) and European Space Agency satellites to collect data on air pollutants in tropical regions between 2005 and 2018.

The scientist said:

The tropics are the next frontier of air pollution. They are experiencing population growth at an unprecedented rate. In addition, most countries in the tropics have yet to implement policies and put in place infrastructure to mitigate air pollution.

Their analysis observed significant annual increases in pollutants around the world. In tropical cities, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) the concentration in the atmosphere increased by up to 14% and that of fine particles (particulate matter or PM 2.5) increased by 8%, according to the report.

PM 2.5 are tiny particles or droplets that are 2.5 micrometers or less in width which are linked to a host of illnesses and premature death.

Ammonia and reactive volatile organic compounds, which contribute to the formation of PM2.5, increased to 12% and 11% respectively.

The researchers studied exposure to pollutants in 46 cities. Exposure to NO2 and PM2.5 increased 1.5- to 4-fold in 40 and 33 cities respectively, they found.

Population growth combined with rapidly deteriorating air quality due to road traffic, waste burning, and the widespread use of charcoal and firewood are driving this increase in exposure to pollutants, the researchers wrote in their study.

Next, the team turned to a health risk assessment model to calculate premature deaths due to exposure to PM 2.5. They also met national age-specific death rates and demographic data for each city included in the study.

In 2005, Kolkata recorded 39,200 premature deaths, Ahmedabad 10,500, Surat 5,800, Mumbai 30,400, Pune 7,400, Bengaluru 9,500, Chennai 11,200 and Hyderabad 9,900, the team observed.

The numbers rose to 54,000 for Kolkata, 18,400 for Ahmedabad, 15,000 for Surat, 48,300 for Mumbai, 15,500 for Pune, 21,000 for Bangalore, 20,800 for Chennai and 23,700 for Hyderabad in 2018.

Overall, India recorded 123,900 premature deaths from long-term PM 2.5 exposure in 2005, which rose to 223,200 in 2018, Vohra said.

Tropical countries will continue to bear the brunt of poor air quality, the researchers said in the study. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the vulnerability of health systems in these countries, the authors wrote.

“We continue to move air pollution from region to region, rather than learning from past mistakes,” Eloise Marais, co-author and associate professor of physical geography to University College London, said. He pressed the need to ensure that rapid industrialization and economic development do not harm public health.

These countries should implement immediate and stringent policy measures to improve air quality and prevent further damage, according to the report.